


many a Spring I rise up fair

by blackkat



Series: Horoscope Drabbles [43]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, F/M, Hades and Persephone Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-11 05:31:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17440880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackkat/pseuds/blackkat
Summary: The palace sprawls in dove-grey stone and glittering figures, the vast center of the network of aqueducts Mei followed down from the mountains, civilization sprouting as she traveled like wildflowers after the spring rain. The whole city feels like some strange, beautiful flower, misted by the rain and scattered with rainbows.





	many a Spring I rise up fair

**Author's Note:**

> Gemini: An empire of rain and silk. Glittering iridescent cloaks and wide brimmed straw masks. The aqueducts flow ever deeper into the mountains.

The palace sprawls in dove-grey stone and glittering figures, the vast center of the network of aqueducts Mei followed down from the mountains, civilization sprouting as she traveled like wildflowers after the spring rain. The whole city feels like some strange, beautiful flower, misted by the rain and scattered with rainbows.

No one stops her as she mounts the steps of the palace, face bare and raised towards the sky. There are masks all around her, people in cloaks of silk that seem to catch the dancing rainbows in their weft, straw hats to keep the rain off on noble and peasant alike. It makes the staring stranger, but Mei doesn’t pause, gathers blue silk around herself in a whirl like the water surging through the aqueducts around them. The doors are open, and so is the roof of the palace; the rain tumbles down to trickle in streams across the stone, making crystal shine.

It feels like spring, gathered up and spread out over the city, and Mei can feel the heat at the heart of it and smiles as she walks.

The throne room is hidden away, hard to find even for those who know where it is, but Mei doesn’t look for it. Turns, instead, because there's a courtyard full of bright figures and verdant growth, grey stone and prismatic light. Masked, but laughing, and their voices are warm.

Mei steps down into the small garden and the voices stop.

There's a rush, a rustle. People fall back, parting like a sea to clear a path for her, and Mei smiles, feeling anticipation rise like a candle flame in the dark. She takes the steps down languidly, in no rush, but through the fracturing crowd she catches sight of a familiar figure, and as soon as she does her eyes don’t leave him. A whole season away, and still, still that fluttering rush like wingbeats in her chest, the breathless elation of falling without having to care where she’ll land.

The king wears a mask just like his subjects, straw shedding the rain, cloak an iridescent blue that falls across his shoulders. Mei can feel his eyes on her, a weight, can see the way he raises his head to look her over, one slow, careful sweep down and then back up.

Half a year apart, and Mei hadn’t remembered just how soft he can make her feel with a look.

“Husband,” she drawls, coming to a stop three paces from him. “Throwing parties when I'm not here to keep you in line?”

She can only see Kakashi’s eyes above the mask, but they crinkle like he’s smiling. “When my days are so long I have to fill them with something,” he returns, and raises his hands, offering them to her.

Mei laughs, low and husky in her throat, and reaches back, sliding her fingers into his. He pulls her close, and immediately she reaches for his mask, tips it up and right off his head, ignoring the scandalized gasps and whispers it earns her. Kakashi just chuckles, one arm sliding around her waist, and Mei gives him a smile full of intent as she tangles her fingers in silver hair just starting to dampen in the rain.

“Spring took forever to come this year,” she says, and kisses him, slow and gentle and careful, reacquainting herself with the heat of his mouth, the way he pulls her just a little closer with a hand on her hip.

“Too long,” Kakashi agrees, and his fingers card through her hair, sweep down to send the last few drops of molten stone splattering across the ground. Mei hums, closing her eyes as the earth eases its hold on her, the curl of fire in her chest sliding down into an ember, content to rest until the year turns. In its place, the spring rain settles into her bones, and she looks up at Kakashi with a smile.

He smiles back, cupping her cheek on one hand, and kisses her again, a light, almost chaste brush that promises far more to come.

“Welcome home, Mei,” he says.

 _I missed you_ , Mei hears, and she laughs and spins them through the silken rain.


End file.
